Cristiano Ronaldo has had a dig at Lionel Messi after the Portugal international was mocked by Denmark supporters during the 3-2 victory in Lviv on Wednesday night, when the Real Madrid forward once again failed to deliver for his country. The Denmark fans chanted Messi's name whenever Ronaldo was on the ball.

Ronaldo squandered two gilt-edged one-on-one chances — the second of which was not even close to ending up in the net — and he looked frustrated and tormented throughout. He appeared exasperated with his team-mates, in particular Hélder Postiga, who scored Portugal's second goal, and he picked up a late yellow card for a needless foul when he had no chance of winning the ball.

Asked about the Messi chants, Ronaldo said: "You know where he was at this time [last year]? Do you know? He was being eliminated in the Copa America, in his own country. I think that's worse, no?"

As well as not getting his facts right – Argentina reached the quarter-finals of the competition before losing to the eventual winners, Uruguay – Ronaldo's response will be interpreted by many as evidence of his annoyance with Messi's status as the world's best footballer. Although Ronaldo scored 60 goals for Real Madrid last season en route to winning La Liga, Messi eclipsed him on an individual basis, scoring 73 goals for Barcelona, including 50 in the league.

The main concern for Portugal supporters is that Ronaldo continues to look a shadow of the player that is so prolific for Real Madrid. He has made 21 appearances for Portugal in European Championship and World Cup finals and scored five goals.

Paulo Bento, the Portugal coach, defended his captain after the Denmark win, which keeps alive their hopes of progressing to the knock-out stage. "That's not my impression [that Ronaldo is struggling to handle the pressure]," Bento said. "He has the same pressure as all the players that want to contribute to the game. He was in some difficult situations but, from our point of view, he has played two very good games and I am very certain that not a single player in our squad might be unsatisfied [with him]."